Report: Michael Flynn May Be Cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynn may be cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to the New York Times, which reports that Flynn’s lawyers have terminated an agreement with White House lawyers to share information.

Such an agreement would have to be terminated if one party began cooperating with prosecutors because of a potential conflict of interest that could damage the non-cooperating defendant.

Mr. Flynn’s lawyers had been sharing information with Mr. Trump’s lawyers about the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is examining whether anyone around Mr. Trump was involved in Russian efforts to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

That agreement has been terminated, the four people said. Defense lawyers frequently share information during investigations, but they must stop when doing so would pose a conflict of interest. It is unethical for lawyers to work together when one client is cooperating with prosecutors and another is still under investigation.

The notification alone does not prove that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with Mr. Mueller. Some lawyers withdraw from information-sharing arrangements as soon as they begin negotiating with prosecutors. And such negotiations sometimes fall apart.

Still, the notification led Mr. Trump’s lawyers to believe that Mr. Flynn — who, along with his son, is seen as having significant criminal exposure — has, at the least, begun discussions with Mr. Mueller about cooperating.

White House counsel Ty Cobb once predicted that Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government would be complete by Thanksgiving.